1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to printed matter which has enhanced appearance, which is easy to see, and which has a high-quality image formed thereon, and whose image surface has uniform gloss, a printing method used to form the printed matter, and a printer used in the printing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In one conventional arrangement printed material has been obtained using a thermal transfer printer and a transparent member, such as a transparent film, used as a print medium in order to print a full-color image on the front surface of the transparent member with ink. It is known that, in such printed material, gloss at the surface of the image becomes uniform, and the appearance of the image becomes enhanced when the image is viewed from the back side opposite to the side of the transparent member where the image is formed than when it is viewed directly.
However, in the above-described conventional printed material obtained by printing the image with ink on the front surface of the transparent member serving as a print medium with the thermal transfer printer, the image formed on the front surface of the transparent member is viewed through the transparent member from the back surface thereof. Therefore, the left and right sides of the image are reversed, so that a normal, or noninverted, image cannot be obtained. In addition, since the image and the transparent member are viewed while light is transmitted therethrough, the image cannot be easily seen. Consequently, in order to make it easier to see the image, it is necessary to carry out a complicated operation, such as bonding a white sheet or applying white paint to the surface of the transparent member where the image is formed. Depending on the paint used, applying white paint to the surface of the transparent member where the image is formed may adversely affect the image. For example, the paint may melt the image. Therefore, printing to a transparent member is currently carried out only in limited applications where it is not necessary to view the image formed with ink through a transparent member from the back surface thereof, such as when an OHP (over-head projector) is used.
Accordingly, in view of the above-described problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide printed material which has enhanced appearance, which has a high-quality image formed thereon without the left and right sides of the image being reversed, which is easy to see, and whose image surface has uniform gloss, a printing method which allows the printed matter to be easily obtained, and a printer which allows the printing method to be easily realized.
To this end, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided printed material wherein an image which is a mirror image formed with image-formation ink is formed within an image-formation area of a surface of a print medium which is a transparent member. A surface of the image and at least a surface of a blank space section within the image-formation area of the print medium is covered with an underlying layer formed with underlying layer ink, and a surface of the underlying layer is coated with a light-shielding layer formed with light-shielding layer ink.
By adopting the above-described structure, the mirror image formed with ink on the surface of the print medium which is a transparent member can be viewed as a normal image without the left and right sides of the image being reversed when viewed through the print medium from the back surface thereof. In addition, the underlying layer and the light-shielding layer are highly capable of shielding the image formed on the surface of the print medium. Therefore, it is easier to view the image through the print medium which is a transparent member from the back surface thereof. Consequently, it is possible to obtain printed matter which has enhanced appearance, which has a high-quality image formed thereon without the left and right sides being reversed, which is easy to see, and whose image surface has uniform gloss when viewed through the print medium from the back side thereof.
The image, the underlying layer, and the light-shielding layer area may each be formed by thermal transfer printing.
By adopting the above-described structure, the thermal transfer printing allows the image which is a mirror image formed with ink, the underlying layer, and the light-shielding layer to be easily formed on the print medium.
When the image, the underlying layer, and the light-shielding layer are each formed by thermal transfer printing, the melt viscosity of the underlying layer ink at 160xc2x0 C. used to form the underlying layer may be less than the melt viscosity of the image-formation ink at 160xc2x0 C. used to form the image.
By adopting the above-described structure, the fluidity of the underlying layer ink at 160xc2x0 C. is high, while the fluidity of the image-formation ink at 160xc2x0 C. is low, so that the underlying layer can be easily formed without adversely affecting the image formed with ink.
When printed material is such that an image which is a mirror image formed with image-formation ink is formed within an image-formation area of a surface of a print medium which is a transparent member, a surface of the image and at least a surface of a blank space section within the image-formation area of the print medium is covered with an underlying layer formed with underlying layer ink, and a surface of the underlying layer is coated with a light-shielding layer formed with light-shielding layer ink, the underlying layer may be white.
By adopting the above-described structure, the white underlying layer makes the image stand out when it is viewed through the print medium which is a transparent member from the back surface thereof, making it easier to see the image.
When printed material is such that an image which is a mirror image formed with image-formation ink is formed within an image-formation area of a surface of a print medium which is a transparent member, a surface of the image and at least a surface of a blank space section within the image-formation area of the print medium is covered with an underlying layer formed with underlying layer ink, and a surface of the underlying layer is coated with a light-shielding layer formed with light-shielding layer ink, the print medium may be a transparent film or a transparent sheet.
By adopting the above-described structure, the transparent film or the transparent sheet allows the image and the light-shielding layer, or the image, the underlying layer, and the light-shielding layer to be easily formed.
When printed material is such that an image which is a mirror image formed with image-formation ink is formed within an image-formation area of a surface of a print medium which is a transparent member, a surface of the image and at least a surface of a blank space section within the image-formation area of the print medium is covered with an underlying layer formed with underlying layer ink, and a surface of the underlying layer is coated with a light-shielding layer formed with light-shielding layer ink, the light-shielding ink used to form the light-shielding layer may be metallic ink.
By adopting the above-described structure, the image formed with ink can be more properly shielded by the metallic ink, making it possible to see the image more easily when it is viewed through the print medium from the back surface thereof.
When printed material is such that an image which is a mirror image formed with image-formation ink is formed within an image-formation area of a surface of a print medium which is a transparent member, a surface of the image and at least a surface of a blank space section within the image-formation area of the print medium is covered with an underlying layer formed with underlying layer ink, and a surface of the underlying layer is coated with a light-shielding layer formed with light-shielding layer ink, there may be formed a base having the same size as the print medium peelably adhered to a back surface of the print medium, and one image-formation area surrounded by a half-cut section or a plurality of image-formation areas surrounded by corresponding half-cut sections on the print medium, with the half-cut section and the half-cut sections extending from a front surface to the back surface of the print medium.
By adopting the above-described structure, it is possible to easily obtain a piece of printed matter or pieces of printed matter which are smaller than the print medium itself without carrying out a post-processing operation.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing method comprising the steps of:
printing an image which is a mirror image formed with image-formation ink within an image-formation area of a surface of a print medium which is a transparent member;
performing underlying layer printing with underlying layer ink on a surface of the image and at least a surface of a blank space section within the image-formation area of the print medium; and
performing light-shielding layer printing with light-shielding layer ink on a surface of the print medium that has been subjected to the underlying layer printing so as to cover the surface of the print medium that has been subjected to the underlying layer printing.
The image, the underlying layer, and the light-shielding layer may be formed by thermal transfer printing.
When the image, the underlying layer, and the light-shielding layer are formed by thermal transfer printing, the melt viscosity of the underlying layer ink at 160xc2x0 C. used in the underlying layer printing may be less than the melt viscosity of the image-formation ink at 160xc2x0 C. used in forming the image.
When a printing method comprises the above-described steps, the underlying layer ink used in the underlying layer printing may be white.
When a printing method comprises the above-described steps, the print medium may be a transparent film or a transparent sheet.
When a printing method comprises the above-described steps, the light-shielding layer ink used in the light-shielding layer printing may be metallic ink.
When a printing method comprises the above-described steps, the printing method may further comprise the steps of forming a base having the same size as the print medium peelably adhered to a back surface of the print medium, and forming one image-formation area surrounded by a half-cut section or a plurality of image-formation areas surrounded by corresponding half-cut sections on the print medium, with the half-cut section and the half-cut sections extending from a front surface to the back surface of the print medium.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there may be provided a printer comprising:
a thermal head including an image-formation ink ribbon, an underlying layer ink ribbon, a light-shielding layer ink ribbon, and a plurality of heating elements disposed in a row; and
controlling means for controlling an operation of each of the image-formation ink ribbon, the underlying layer ink ribbon, the light-shielding layer ink ribbon, and the heating elements;
wherein the controlling means is constructed so that, at least during printing, first, the image-formation ink ribbon is selected, and, based on print information, the heating elements of the thermal head are selectively driven in order to thermally transfer image-formation ink of the image-formation ink ribbon within an image-formation area of a print medium, causing an image which is a mirror image formed with ink to be printed, after which, by selecting the underlying layer ink ribbon and driving the heating elements of the thermal head, underlying layer ink is thermally transferred onto a surface of the image on the print medium and at least a surface of a blank space section within the image-formation area of the print medium, causing the surface within the image-formation area of the print medium to be subjected to underlying layer printing in order to cover the surface within the image-formation area of the print medium with the underlying layer ink, after which, by selecting the light-shielding layer ink ribbon and driving the heating elements of the thermal head, light-shielding layer ink is thermally transferred onto the surface of the print medium that has been subjected to the underlying layer printing, causing the surface of the print medium that has been subjected to the underlying layer printing to be subjected to light-shielding layer printing in order to cover the surface of the print medium that has been subjected to the underlying layer printing with the light-shielding layer ink.
The melt viscosity of the underlying layer ink of the underlying layer ink ribbon at 160xc2x0 C. may be less than the melt viscosity of the image-formation ink of the image-formation ink ribbon at 160xc2x0 C.
When a printer comprises a thermal head including an image-formation ink ribbon, an underlying layer ink ribbon, a light-shielding layer ink ribbon, and a plurality of heating elements disposed in a row, and controlling means for controlling an operation of each of the image-formation ink ribbon, the underlying layer ink ribbon, the light-shielding layer ink ribbon, and the heating elements, and the controlling means has the above-described structure, the underlying layer ink of the underlying layer ink ribbon may be white.
When a printer comprises a thermal head including an image-formation ink ribbon, an underlying layer ink ribbon, a light-shielding layer ink ribbon, and a plurality of heating elements disposed in a row, and controlling means for-controlling an operation of each of the image-formation ink ribbon, the underlying layer ink ribbon, the light-shielding layer ink ribbon, and the heating elements, and the controlling means has the above-described structure, the print medium may be a transparent film or a transparent sheet.
When a printer comprises a thermal head including an image-formation ink ribbon, an underlying layer ink ribbon, a light-shielding layer ink ribbon, and a plurality of heating elements disposed in a row, and controlling means for controlling an operation of each of the image-formation ink ribbon, the underlying layer ink ribbon, the light-shielding layer ink ribbon, and the heating elements, and the controlling means has the above-described structure, the light-shielding layer ink of the light-shielding layer ink ribbon may be metallic ink.
When a printer comprises a thermal head including an image-formation ink ribbon, an underlying layer ink ribbon, a light-shielding layer ink ribbon, and a plurality of heating elements disposed in a row, and controlling means for controlling an operation of each of the image-formation ink ribbon, the underlying layer ink ribbon, the light-shielding layer ink ribbon, and the heating elements, and the controlling means has the above-described structure, there may be provided a base having the same size as the print medium peelably adhered to a back surface of the print medium, and one image-formation area surrounded by a half-cut section or a plurality of image-formation areas surrounded by corresponding half-cut sections formed on the print medium, with the half-cut section and the half-cut sections extending from a front surface to the back surface of the print medium.
Therefore, by moving the printer of the present invention in accordance with the printing method, it is possible to easily provide the printed matter of the invention which has enhanced appearance, which has a high-quality image formed thereon without the left and right sides of the image being reversed, which is easy to see, and whose image surface has uniform gloss.